In case that fresh foods such as vegetables, fruits, other meats and fishes and the like (hereinafter called as "meal products") are frozen and stored in the refrigerator for a long period of time or in case that the frozen meal products are gradually defrozen, in general, it is necessary to restrict a temperature variation within the refrigerator to a low degree and in addition to restrict and control moisture evaporation from the meal products.
In order to accommodate for this requirement, there is a device entitled "Fresh foodstuffs Storing Apparatus" of Jap. U.M. Laid-open No. Sho 63-147678, for example. In this apparatus, some storing boxes for storing meal products are installed within the storing chambers of thermal insulating structure through a predetermined space. The space within the refrigerator is divided by a horizontal partition plate and a vertical partition plate into a casing side air passage for communicating the cold air with the storing boxes without being contacted therewith and another air passage on the side of each storing box to cause the cold air to be communicated with the storing boxes while being contacted with the storing boxes. Then, after the cold air cooled by an evaporator arranged at the air passage on the casing side is dropped down at first at the air passage on the casing side and dropped down to the bottom part of a storing chamber, a heat exchanging operation is carried out with the storing boxes while the cold air is risen up in the air passage on the storing box side thereby the storing boxes are cooled.
The above-mentioned fresh foodstuff storing device is constructed such that the cooled cold air is descended down to the bottom part of the storing chamber, thereafter the storing boxes are cooled while the cold air ascends, Therefore, in case of the type in which a single storing box is stored within the storing chamber, the cold air ascends along the entire storing boxes, so that the storing boxes can be efficiently cooled. In case of a device in which a plurality of storing boxes are stored within the storing chamber in a vertical relation, the cold air ascending from the bottom part of the storing chamber is not sufficiently filled between the bottom surface of the upper storing box and a ceiling surface of the lower storing box, resulting in that each of the storing boxes may not sufficiently be cooled. Due to this fact, cooling of an interior of each of the storing boxes until it reaches a predetermined temperature (meal products storing temperature) requires a substantial time, resulting in providing a disadvantage that a power consumption is also increased.
In addition, if the cold air is descended down to the bottom part of the storing chamber at once, this cold air may not ascend, but accumulate, resulting in that only the lower storing box is cooled and so interior temperatures of upper and lower storing boxes are made non-uniform. Thus, a disadvantage is pointed out that cooling of the upper storing boxes is not sufficient and freshness of the stored meal products is decreased.